The present invention relates to scanning images in a photo kiosk.
Photo kiosks are booths containing hardware or software for creating image content. A consumer can, for example, place a picture in the kiosk, have the picture digitized to a digital image, edit the digital image and print the edited image on various forms of paper output. Some kiosks provide pre-designed templates into which a consumer can place his own pictures.
Some photo kiosks contain a scanner unit for converting a picture to a digital image. Typically the scanner unit in such a photo kiosk is a flat bed scanner.
Flat bed scanners are used to convert pictures to digital images by digitizing picture colors at sample locations within a fine two-dimensional spatial grid. Such scanners are typically operated by positioning a picture to be scanned on a glass surface of the flat scanner bed, closing the scanner bed cover over the glass surface, and then scanning a region of the scanner bed by means of scanning units located underneath the scanner bed. Flat bed scanners are typically connected to computers and operated using software applications.
A picture to be scanned may occupy only a small part of the full scanner bed area. In order not to scan the full scanner bed area, but rather to scan only a smaller area containing the picture, one can first apply a very low resolution pre-scan to the entire scanner bed area, and then use the pre-scanned digital image to set scanner parameters and select a suitable region surrounding the picture. Such a low-resolution scan can be at a resolution of approximately 24 dots per inch (dpi).
A high resolution scan is costly both in time spent scanning and in scanned image file size. If one were to scan the entire scanner bed area with a high resolution scan, most of the time spent and most of the image data could pertain to the empty part of the scanner bed that does not contain the picture. Moreover if scanner parameters, such as color look-up tables and contrast, are not set properly, the scan may have to be repeated. A pre-scanned digital image can be used to set scanner parameters, and also to select a region of interest that surrounds the picture. By setting the scanner parameters in this way, and selecting a region of interest, one ensures that the high resolution scan captures only a sub-area of the entire scanner bed area that contains the picture within it, and that the scanner parameters are properly set before performing the high resolution scan.
In photo kiosks that contain scanners, the scanner unit is typically located inside the kiosk. The consumer may not be able to see the scanner. He may not be able to control the scanner settings, and he may not even be able to view a pre-scanned image. Moreover, even if it were possible to provide such control, it would only serve to complicate the operation of a photo kiosk, thereby frustrating and distancing potential consumers who may have very little or no experience with scanner devices.
There is provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for operating a photo kiosk having a scanner therein, including positioning a user-provided picture on a scanner bed of the kiosk scanner in an arbitrary orientation, and automatically determining an orientation of the picture by pre-scanning, using the kiosk scanner, at least an area of the kiosk scanner bed having the picture positioned therein at a low resolution, to produce a pre-scanned image containing pixels therein, and scanning, using the kiosk scanner, an area of the scanner bed at a high resolution to provide a photo product having the picture in a desired orientation therein irrespective of the arbitrary orientation.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for determining the orientation of a scanned image for use within a photo kiosk having a scanner therein, including the steps of positioning a user-provided picture on a scanner bed of the kiosk scanner in an arbitrary orientation, scanning, using the kiosk scanner, a preliminary region of the scanner bed having the picture positioned therein, to produce a preliminary scanned image containing pixels therein, determining a plurality of bounding boxes confining the picture within the preliminary scanned image, selecting one of the plurality of bounding boxes confining the picture, and calculating a positioning angle based on the selected bounding box.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for scanning pictures within a photo kiosk, including a kiosk scanner having a kiosk scanner bed for positioning a picture thereon in an arbitrary orientation, and a kiosk processor automatically determining an orientation of the picture by pre-scanning, using the kiosk scanner, at least an area of the kiosk scanner having the picture positioned therein at a low resolution to produce a pre-scanned image containing pixels therein, and scanning, using the kiosk scanner, an area of the scanner bed at a high resolution to provide a photo product having the picture in a desired orientation thereon irrespective of the arbitrary orientation.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for determining the orientation of a scanned image for use within a photo kiosk, including a kiosk scanner having a kiosk scanner bed for positioning a picture thereon in an arbitrary orientation, a kiosk processor determining a plurality of bounding boxes confining the picture within the preliminary scanned image, a selector selecting one of the plurality of bounding boxes confining the picture, and an image processor calculating a positioning angle based on the selected bounding box.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a photo kiosk, including a scanner having a scanner bed for positioning a picture thereon in an arbitrary orientation, and apparatus for determining a bounding box confining the picture within a pre-scanned image, the pre-scanned image being produced by pre-scanning an area of the scanner bed having the picture positioned thereon, and the bounding box having edges parallel to the edges of the scanner bed.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a photo kiosk, including a scanner having a scanner bed for positioning a picture thereon in an arbitrary orientation, and apparatus for determining the orientation of the picture within a preliminary scanned image, the preliminary scanned image being produced by pre-scanning an area of the scanner bed having the picture positioned thereon.